I'll be the first to admit that I'm still getting the hang of writing a decent movie review. When it comes to assessing a narrative effort like Moonlightor Snowdenboth films' stories are nice and simple compared to films on such expansive and manifold topics as the internet or racism. And as much time as I've spent reading and watching a wide range of books and films on racism in America, as a white male it is something I can never truly capture in all of its horrific omnipresence. Simply put, race isn't an issue for those for who it isn't made an issue for on a daily basis, hence the weariness that accompanies questions posed about why we still need to talk about race in 2017. After all, an insidious byproduct of Obama's administration was the rise of the myth of a post-racial America, one a few years away from when Michael Brown and Alton Sterling became household names fro the most horrible of reasons: their murders at the hand of armed police officers. I will never forget the white (and male) colleagues I've had over the year who would mock me for my supposed fixation on all things racial who seemed happier to wallow in their own ignorance than to confront the myriad injustices that occur around them daily.

I Am Not Your Negro is director Raoul Peck's audio-visual punch to the gut, an ontological documentary that establishes the very existence of racism throughout America's long history. And while I don't feel like I captured the eloquent rage of James Baldwin nearly as well as Peck did, it was a wonderful opportunity and challenge and one that I would do a thousand times over again. Please see this film and read my review here.